The present invention relates generally to cooking equipment and, more particularly, to a portable, easily assembled grill assembly for cooking food outdoors.
Grill assemblies for cooking food over an open fire are well known. Many of these known grill assemblies include means for adjusting the height of a cooking grill grate above the fire in order to regulate the heat intensity of the cooking fire. Such known grill assemblies typically include locking mechanisms such as friction grip slides, lock nuts, notches, stop lugs, coupling members with fingers and jaws, or the like, to secure the cooking grill grate to an upstanding support stake placed in the ground. Many of these locking mechanisms are made of multiple or complex locking devices which make such portable grill assemblies difficult to assemble, disassemble and use.
While many of the known portable outdoor open fire cooking grill assemblies work as intended, given the ever-increasing interest in traveling, camping and other outdoor activities, there still remains a need for a portable outdoor open fire cooking grill assembly which is not complicated to make or use, which is light-weight yet sturdy, which is easy to erect, take down, transport and store as desired, and which includes a cooking grill grate having an adjustable height.
The present invention provides a new and improved light-weight, portable outdoor open fire cooking grill assembly that is easily assembled in a secure and sturdy manner, that is readily disassembled for the purpose of storage or movement from one location to another, that comprises a limited number of components, and that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. More particularly, the present invention provides a new portable outdoor open fire cooking grill assembly which includes a cooking grill grate which is easily and efficiently secured to a support post at various locations along the post according to the desired heat intensity of the cooking fire.
The foregoing and other features of the present invention are realized in one aspect thereof in a portable outdoor open fire cooking grill assembly comprising a support post, a grill grate holder and a cooking grill grate. The post includes a lower end portion adapted to be driven into the ground. The grill grate holder includes a handle and a grill grate support attached to one end of the handle, wherein the handle weighs less than the grill grate support. The grill grate holder further includes an opening adapted to receive the post. Once the post is set in the ground, the post receiving opening of the grill grate holder is positioned over the post so that the grill grate holder can be positioned onto the post. To secure the grill grate holder to the post, the handle of the grill grate support is simply released and the weight differential between the handle and the grill grate support will cause the grill grate holder to substantially frictionally engage or cinch the post. To remove the grill grate holder from the post or adjust the height of the grill grate holder, and thus the cooking grill grate, along the length of the post, the handle is caused to move in a downward direction relative to the ground in order to release the frictional engagement or cinching action between the grill grate holder and the post. Thereafter, the grill grate holder can be moved up or down the post as desired.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like features.